Can’t Love What I Don’t Trust 2 [Excerpt] by Khara Campbell

Just when Cassandra thought perhaps she was getting her life on track, she’s faced with an unwanted pregnancy, by a man she doesn’t love and who doesn’t love her back.

It seems history is repeating itself for Marco as well – a second woman pregnant from a one night stand? He wants to do the right thing but Cassandra refuses to be just his obligation. She’d been there, done that and didn’t want a repeat. Besides, there was still Damian.

And then when doubt creeps in – trust is on the line. Is the baby even his?

Excerpt:

The day that Cassandra had been working hard toward for years had finally arrived. It was her graduation day, she would receive her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. She was ecstatic. All the hard work: late hours studying, traveling back and forth to classes around her work schedule, tuition payments and paying extra in child care, it all was beneficial for this day.

Cassandra proudly sat in her seat in the auditorium wearing her cap and gown, along with the other graduates, staff and family and friends that were in attendance for the College of The Bahamas commencement ceremony.

Graduating summa cum laude, Cassandra stood when her name was called. Her heart was thundering in her chest and she held back the tears that wanted to spring free. “This is it!” she told herself as she walked up the steps to receive her diploma. The crowd was cheering her on, which added to whole surreal feeling of the occasion for her.

She recognized a few distinct voices in the crowd. She turned her head and saw Josiah and Trinity, standing and cheering her name. They stood next to Veronica who was also applauding loudly, whooping “Cassandra, Cassandra!” Standing next to her was Damian. He’d insisted on coming, so Cassandra finally introduced him to her kids as her friend. He too was proudly cheering her on. To her surprise, two rows behind where Damian and the others were sitting, was her mother. The sight of Claudia really shocked her. The fact that her mother was actually standing up applauding as well deepened her surprise.

Cassandra accepted her diploma and congratulatory hug from the college President. Veronica had made her way to the stage to snap a few photos. As she walked to the other end of the stage to return to her seat, she heard another deep male voice shouting out her name, she turned her head and there, a few rows from the back was Marco, standing next to his twin sisters. Their eyes locked, then he winked at her. And just like that he had her hot and bothered.

"You cant look at me and say I want your life when you fail to cry the same tears I cried, lose the same sleep I lost, bleed the same blood I shed, and pray the same prayers I prayed. You aim for the benefits but fail to understand my struggle. You don't want my life you wanted a handout"

"As a artist I never feel satisfied. I always tend to find incompleteness in something. But the thing is that we will never be satisfied. We're not supposed to ever get satisfied. We should always want more. The minute we stop wanting more is when the blood has stopped running through our veins."

"I've taken my deepest pain and my greatest loves and laced the pages of my novels with them. My readers often say, my stories seem so real.....but they have no idea that they are inside of me. That in those moments they are apart of my existence."